TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to Red River Radio News.
Good morning, I’m Jeff Ferrell.
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INTRO:
Researchers at LSU Health Shreveport are helping answer major questions about the virus responsible for a deadly outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
The story attracted international attention back in May, when the ship sailed from Argentina to Antarctica, as the Hanta-virus spread among passengers.
The science journal Nature recently published its work investigating how hantavirus gets inside of cells.
The viruses are carried by rodents and are rare, but deadly.
There are currently no approved therapies designed specifically to treat them.
The team in Shreveport, working in Dr. Rohit Jangra’s lab, collaborated alongside researchers in Paris at Institute Pasteur and New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine:
SOT:
“We are trying to understand the basic mechanisms by which these viruses get into our cells, our body, and make us sick. And this basic science research is really important because this will serve as a stepping stone to develop ways to stop these viruses.”
TAG:
With lab safety a top priority, the research teams developed a system to alter proteins, allowing them to study without having to work directly with the infectious virus.
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INTRO:
In Texas, a report released this week claims that the Commission on Environmental Quality has moved forward with the review and approval of data center development.
That’s despite a directive from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to pause data center approvals.
KTTZ’s Samantha Larned spoke with the author of that report:
SOT:
“In its compliance update to the governor on Monday, the TCEQ asserts that it has not issued permits for data centers or supporting infrastructure. But Sam Law, a researcher with the nonprofit group FracTracker, says data pulled from TCEQ open records indicate the commission has continued with other “regulatory approvals,” which goes against the governor’s Sept. 21 letter. That includes the approval of new stormwater construction, issuing certifications on emissions requirements, and sending public notices of air quality permit applications from data center developers. Along with the review of applications that Law says were ‘fast-tracked.’ "The other two we looked at were these gas plant or generator applications. So these are small enough that they don't trigger the major source permits where you have to send out the letters… But here we saw that while they haven't issued permits for them, they have been rapidly moving them through the review process, including these expedited reviews.” Law says that the TCEQ’s actions indicate a need for a complete statewide moratorium on data centers.”
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INTRO:
One Louisiana analyst says this midterm election is shaping up to see a good number of early votes.
But John Couvillon, with JMC Analytics & Polling, says turnout will not bring out nearly as many voters as a Presidential election:
SOT:
“So I do expect there’ll be a substantial volume, like 30 to 40 percent of the total votes that will be cast early, beforenext Tuesday.”
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INTRO:
In Arkansas, the results are out for the latest Talk business- Hendrix College poll.
And it shows Republican Senator Tom Cotton holding a 9-point lead over Democratic Challenger Hallie Shoffner 50-to-41%.
Hendrix professor emeritus Dr. Jay Barth:
SOT:
“It’s been just tons of money spent on the Cotton side, both by his campaign, by outside groups and money matters in politics. It maybe has not been the most persuasive advertising all-time. But it has been advertising that has put him front and center and certainly has raised some doubts about Shoffner.”
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The National Weather Service in Shreveport is calling for:
- Sunny skies and highs consistently in the low 80s through the weekend, then slipping to 79 Sunday.
But the state of Louisiana is now rating the fire danger level in much of northwest Louisiana as “very High”.. and extreme in Sabine and Natchitoches Parishes With burn bans widespread in the listening area.
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